The Rational Actor Approach in the Kurdish Initiative’s Demonstration of Ontological Security in Turkish Foreign Policy Kasum, İsa Republic of Türkiye AKP PKK rational actor The Kurdish Initiative, led by the Justice and Development Party (AKP), aimed to integrate the Kurds who constitute the majority in many provinces of the Southeast but are considered a minority within the national framework of the Republic of Türkiye into the system and to reduce the influence of organizations like the PKK (Kurdistan Workers Party), which has been a source of conflict in the country for thirty years. However, in later stages, the AKP administration pursued a rational actor approach on behalf of the Republic of Türkiye, ultimately seeking to prevent the establishment of a Kurdish state, whether through cross-border operations in Syria or occasional targeted operations against high-ranking PKK leaders in Northern Iraq. Balkan University Press 2026-04-01 info:eu-repo/semantics/article info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion Research Article application/pdf https://jlp.ibupress.com/articles/the-rational-actor-approach-in-the-kurdish-initiative-s-demonstration-of-ontological-security-in-turkish-foreign-policy https://doi.org/10.69648/XZZB2660 Journal of Law And Politics; Vol. 7 No. 1 (2026); 71-87 2671-342X 2671-3438 en https://jlp.ibupress.com/file/Eg5ofzd2sMF/ibu-journal-jlp-7-1-6.pdf https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess